life is sweet • life is colorful — Nikki Rappaport

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It’s will be almost 90 degrees in DC today, so my timing for posting this soup recipe might be a little off. But I’ve been sick for the past couple of days so I think it’s still works and well, my schedule is just a little off recently. So deal with it? No doubt we’ll have a few cooler days this spring, and you’ll want to make this light spinach and tomato soup for a simple weeknight dinner soon.

This is one of those things you can throw together so easily, with whatever you have in the fridge and pantry. Making this really made me excited for the CSA I joined – it would be great to throw in even more fresh veggies in there. I can’t wait until I start getting my CSA produce…hopefully with my new schedule it will force me to get in the kitchen when I can and be a little more creative too. Looking forward to sharing those meals with you – I have a fun series planned!

Ok let’s get to this recipe, which really is an anti-recipe, because 1. I don’t totally remember it and 2. this is my chance to teach you to be a little more free in the kitchen…realize that you can just throw together a bunch of ingredients and with some repetition and confidence, you too will think something like this is so so easy to make. Without planning, I whipped this up in about 30 minutes and had leftovers for days. Go ahead, try it…

Spring Spinach and Tomato Soup

In a large pot, heat a few tablespoons of olive oil and butter. Sautée chopped garlic, onion, and carrot until they start to soften over medium heat (I had shredded carrot from a salad a made a few weeks ago). Add in a few cans of crushed or whole peeled (then chopped) tomatoes plus some chicken stock (I used 2 15-oz cans of each and always keep these things stocked in my kitchen). Got some good white wine you’re going to drink later? Pour a little of that in too. (1/2 cup or so?) Bring to a boil. Ok, I’m lazy and don’t want to wash another dish, so I cook my pasta right here in my soup. It totally works but when you do this you might need some more liquid because when the pasta cooks, it soaks it up. So if you’re doing this, have some extra chicken stock (and wine!) on hand that you can add in after if needed. You can also leave out the pasta, but really why would you do that? Once boiling, add in angel hair pasta. Once cooked through (only about 3 minutes, longer with other pastas) add in a can of cannellini beans and a whole bag of fresh spinach leaves. Stir well. You can season with salt, pepper, bay leaf (don’t forget to take it out when you’re done), and some Italian seasoning mix as you go or at the end. After all the spinach as wilted a bit, you’re all set. Grate some good Parmesan on top. Serve with crusty bread and more of that wine if you aren’t sick.

Today I’m thrilled to be featured on one of my favorite blogs, Mimi + Meg in her new series “My DC.” I loved showing Meg around some of my favorite Dupont spots including the Farmer’s Market and Dolcezza.

Check out the post to see what we did and to learn a little more about moi. Thanks Meg for having me! Can’t wait to do this again soon!

Beautiful tart from Bonaparte Breads

A perfect crumbly alfajor cookie from Dolcezza

That night I made a lovely dinner with my market finds: capellini with ramps, spinach and ricotta, with roasted asparagus on the side. A perfect spring meal!

I feel like I’m finally cooking again. Spring has brought a new sense of excitement…for creating new things, for fresh veggies, for eating light and fresh. Getting to the market and getting in the kitchen seem more regular now. And that feels good.

This past week, my favorite market finds were oh so green spinach and fresh creamy ricotta. For an appetizer, I sautéed the spinach in garlic and olive oil and paired it with the ricotta drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Such a savory, sweet, simple veggie dish.

And it will only get better. Soon there will be asparagus, ramps, strawberries, tomatoes… ah the produce possibilities!

here’s the thing about blogging… you have do regularly and you have to do it immediately after cooking something because otherwise, you’re not going to remember your recipe…

I made these amazing short ribs a few weeks ago. In my beautiful new blue Le Cruset dutch oven.

They were, to die for. But, and I can’t believe it, I don’t remember how I made them. I know that I followed this recipe a little and I also followed this recipe a little, I put them in the oven for 3 hours, and somehow ended up with something fab. Served with some garlic mashed potatoes and creamed spinach, it was a perfect hearty winter Sunday meal.

All I have left to remind me are these step-by-step photos… let’s see if I remember anything…

Guess I need to make them again. And write it all down!

Ps. What do you think of my new camera? I think it’s doing a pretty good job.

two things I’m really excited about right now are squash and taking some time to cook a good dinner. (Both seen in this recent post.) One of my new year’s resolutions is to cook more dinners (aka lunch leftovers!), which is just so difficult during basketball season, but I’m going to try. And farmer’s market squash is a great inspiration.

So for the second night in a row, I made dinner inspired by squash…Butternut squash and spinach pasta in a cheesy cream sauce topped with ricotta. I love the combination of the creamy squash and healthy spinach (even better with whole wheat pasta – not so much with the cream and butter though) and the notes of garlic and thyme.

For the squash: Preheat oven to 400°. Cut off top and bottom of squash, peel, cut into cubes. Spread out on a foil lined baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme. Toss around to make sure every piece is coated. Roast for 15 minutes, tossing once to rotate.

For the spinach: Sauté frozen spinach leaves with butter and garlic. After spinach has cooked through, add in a splash or two or three of heavy cream. Mix in some parmesan cheese. When squash is done roasting, add it to the spinach mix.